Iraq War Vet James Vester Lured To His Death By Craigslist Ad For iPad

An Iraq war veteran was lured to his death in Indiana after responding to a Craigslist ad for an iPad last week.

Sgt. 1st Class James Vester, 32, was hoping to get his parents an iPad for Christmas when he answered a Craigslist ad on Wednesday. He traveled to Indianapolis’ west side, where he was robbed and murdered by two teenage brothers.

“He knew it wasn’t the best neighborhood, that’s why he went in the middle of the afternoon,” his family friend Sarah Hill told the Indianapolis Star. “He was being careful.”

The Army guardsman was killed in the parking lot of the Wyckford Commons apartment complex at 4 p.m.

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“It’s senseless,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Christopher Bailey. “Some of our young people seem to have a lack of respect for life. We wish we had an answer as to why.”

Tryon Kincade, 19, and his brother Tyshaune Kincade, 18, were charged in connection with the murder.

Tyshaune was taken into custody Thursday night during a traffic stop for driving without a license. The plate on the white 1998 Buick he was driving had a plate registered to another vehicle. Authorities confiscated two cell phones from Tyshaune’s pockets and three more from the vehicle.

While the Kincades have no felony convictions, they were arrests on charges of attacking a man in 2012 and threatening two 13-year-old girls with a gun in 2011.

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Facing charges of murder and armed robbery, the brothers are being held without bail at Marion County Jail.

Vester leaves behind a 1-year-old son named Gavin.

“He wanted to be a good husband and father his entire life,” Hill said. “Jim is one of those guys who is just a really genuinely good guy who loved being a dad.”

“He had a huge heart,” said Sgt. Major Tony Williams of the Indiana National Guard. “He was the type of person you could always depend on.”

When Vester came home in 2006, he began a job as a mechanic for the National Guard. He served in a ceremonial unit that honored fallen soldiers at funerals, the Daily News reported.